Letters from Congress Members Renew Fire over Illegal Immigrant’s Death

Sixteen members of Congress are calling for an investigation into the death of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas after a PBS documentary aired last month that raised questions about just how involved the Border Patrol was in the illegal immigrant’s killing.

The letters sent yesterday to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Attorney General Eric Holder and the Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General ask the federal government to take another look and claim that the Department of Justice has been taking too long to handle the case.

Hernandez Rojas was allegedly tased and beaten to death by U.S. Border Patrol agents two years ago after a fight broke out as he was being returned to the border.

The agency has defended the use of force by its agents, maintaining that Hernandez Rojas’ behavior was “combative” enough to necessitate the use of batons and the stun gun, the Huffington Post reported.

But footage from the PBS documentary claims that Hernandez Rojas was surrounded by more than a dozen agents, hogtied and pleading for help before he was tased.

Luz Rojas, the mother of the Mexican native, has been in the U.S. this week, asking officials to investigate further into the incident.

Advocacy groups including Presente.org and their supporters have gathered in eight cities across the U.S. protesting what they say is the government’s egregious lack of action two years after the incident, according to the Huffington Post.

"The disturbing footage and eye-witness accounts that aired on PBS raise serious questions about the Border Patrol’s role in the death of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas and after two years, we owe it to his family to finally provide some definitive answers,” Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), said in a news release.